In an unusual moment of agreement, Binance — the world’s largest crypto exchange by market cap — and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have jointly requested the court for a temporary suspension of their legal scrabble. The motivation: Both parties anticipate a change in regulatory dynamics with the establishment of the SEC’s new crypto task force. This marks the first move toward halting major crypto litigation since Mark Uyeda took over from Gary Gensler as SEC chairman. Binance And SEC Seek An Early Resolution In Lawsuit On Feb. 10, the SEC, Binance, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) filed a joint motion to stay their case for 60 days. The motion notes that the creation of the new crypto task force under SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce (aka Crypto Mom) “may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case.” The filing is one of the big moves under the leadership of Acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda, indicating a potential shift in the regulatory approach to embrace crypto under President Donald Trump’s regime. “As this is a joint motion, there is no prejudice to any party here, and a stay could save the parties resources because, if an early resolution could be reached, it would obviate the need to continue merits discovery,” the parties postulated. The joint motion also indicated that at the end of the 60-day pause, the two parties intend to submit a joint status report on whether a continuation of the stay is warranted. The ongoing suit was lodged in June 2023. The SEC accused the leading exchange of breaking federal securities laws. The securities watchdog, under the helm of ex-chair Gensler, also initiated lawsuits against major crypto players, including Ripple , Coinbase , and Kraken , contending violations similar to the Binance case. Fox Journalist Shares Bullish Forecast On The Ripple-SEC Case According to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the joint filing is the first requested pause on crypto litigation since President Trump named Uyeda as the acting SEC chair on Jan. 20. Consequently, she predicted that other non-fraud crypto litigations, including Ripple’s, might take a similar tactic to deal with its own legal challenges with the SEC. NEW: Here’s the first requested pause on #crypto litigation in the courts since @MarkUyedaUS took over as acting chair. @binance and the @SECGov have just filed a joint motion to stay the agency’s case against the exchange for 60 days, citing the new SEC crypto task force as… pic.twitter.com/D2zcolMNC5 — Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 11, 2025 The prolonged SEC vs Ripple lawsuit is currently stuck in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The SEC aims to reverse a game-changing New York federal court ruling, which found that Ripple’s sale of the XRP cryptocurrency to retail traders via crypto exchanges did not constitute investment contracts. XRP is the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap; its market cap is $139.5 billion. Investors are optimistic that Trump’s presidency could end the lawsuit, paving the way for spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as analysts see an increasing likelihood of spot XRP ETF applications getting a green light from the SEC. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse is further pushing for a diversified U.S. strategic crypto reserve that includes XRP — instead of one based only on Bitcoin. XRP’s Looming Parabolic Advance To $8 In the meantime, pseudonymous crypto analyst Dark Defender has suggested that XRP could be poised to reach an intermediate cycle target of $5.85 and a long-term target of $8.76 based on the Elliott Wave Theory in the daily time frame. “XRP almost finalized the consolidation on the daily chart, as seen from the RSI lows. Wave 3 is preparing to fire the bullet against the $5.85 parapet. The short-term is $5.85 and $8.76.” Meanwhile, the SEC’s potential retreat from its appeal against Ripple could boost investors’ confidence in XRP, subsequently propelling the crypto to new record highs.
